CDLI Literary 000364, ex. 047 (P346140)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Ur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | CDLI Literary 000364, ex. 047 |
|---|---|
| ID | P346140 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) |
| Coordinates | 30.9607, 46.1063 |
English translation
By Peterson, Jeremiah · Via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI (reuse with citation)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| obverse 1 | Those distant days, those distant remote days |
| obverse 2 | Those distant nights, those distant remote nights |
| obverse 3 | Those distant years, those distant remote years |
| obverse 4 | At that time, when a primeval entity was made manifest |
| obverse 5 | At that ancient time, when a primeval entity was cared for |
| obverse 6 | When bread was “tasted?” (lit. “covered") in the shrine(s) of the land |
| obverse 7 | When the firebox was prepared(?) in the oven(s) of the land |
| obverse 8 | When heaven had been separated from earth |
| obverse 9 | When earth had been separated from heaven |
| obverse 10 | When ... established the name of humanity on ... |
| obverse 11 | When An had brought away the sky |
| obverse 12 | When Enlil had brought away the earth |
| obverse 13 | When ... gifted that of the netherworld on behalf of Ereškigal/When that of the netherworld was gifted on behalf of Ereškigal |
| obverse 14 | When he rode, when he rode |
| obverse 15 | When the father rode towards the netherworld |
| obverse 16 | When Enki rode towards the netherworld |
| obverse 17 | For the king, ... cast down the small (stones) |
| obverse 18 | For Enki, ... cast down the large (stones) |
| obverse 19 | The little ones were hammer-stones/hand-sized stones(?) |
| obverse 20 | The large ones were stones that made the reeds shake |
| obverse 21 | It was the keel of the little boat of Enki |
| obverse 22 | The bobbing turtle, was overwhelmed |
| obverse 23 | For the king, the water of the prow |
| obverse 24 | Was attacking in a pack like wolves |
| obverse 25 | For Enki the water of the stern |
| obverse 26 | Was slaughtering like a lion |
| obverse 27 | At that time, there was a single tree, a halub tree |
| obverse 28 | The one that was planted on the bank of the Euphrates(!?) |
| obverse 29 | The one that was to drink water (from) the Euphrates(?) |
| obverse 30 | The power of the southern wind tore it out at its roots, it ripped it out its branches(?) |
| reverse 1 | The Euphrates struck it with (flood)water |
| reverse 2 | The woman, who was fearing(?) the command of An, was coming (by) |
| reverse 3 | Fearing(?) the command of Enlil, was coming by |
| reverse 4 | She grasped the tree in her hand and brought it to Uruk |
| reverse 5 | She was bringing it towards the flowering orchard of Inanna |
| reverse 5 | The woman did not plant the tree as it was in(?) her hand, it was by means of her foot that she planted it |
| reverse 5 | The woman did not water the tree as it was in(?) her hand, it was by means of her foot that she watered it |
| reverse 10 | She said “When am I to sit on its flowering throne?” |
| reverse 11 | She said “When am I to I lie down on its flowering bed?” |
| reverse 12 | The wood thickened, but its bark could not be split |
| reverse 13 | At its base a snake that was immune to incantations made a nest |
| reverse 14 | In its branches the Anzu bird placed (its) chick |
| reverse 15 | The demon maiden of the empty wind made a house in its middle |
| reverse 16 | The laughing, rejoicing young woman |
| reverse 17 | Holy Inanna, how she was weeping |
| reverse 18 | The day was about to break, the horizon was about to light up |
| reverse 19 | The little birds at daybreak were about to shriek |
| reverse 20 | When Utu came out from his chamber |
| reverse 21 | His sister, to the hero Utu |
| reverse 22 | Holy Inanna was speaking |
| reverse 23 | My brother, long ago, when fate was decreed |
| reverse 24 | When days of abundance elapsed in the land |
| reverse 25 | When An had brought away the sky |
| reverse 26 | When Enlil had brought away the earth |
| reverse 27 | When ... gifted that of the netherworld on behalf of Ereškigal/When that of the netherworld was gifted on behalf of Ereškigal |
| reverse 28 | When he rode, when he rode |
| reverse 29 | When the father rode towards the netherworld |
| reverse 30 | When Enki rode towards the netherworld |
| reverse 31 | For the lord, ... cast down the small (stones) |
| reverse 32 | For Enki, ... cast down the large (stones) |
| reverse 33 | The little ones were hammer-stones/hand-sized stones(?) |
| left 1 | Month of NENEgar, 26th day |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| obverse | ||
| 1 | u4 ri-a u4 su3-u4 ri-a | |
| 2 | ge6 ri-a ge6 bad-ra2 ri-a | |
| 3 | mu ri-a mu su3-u4 ri-a | |
| 4 | u4 nig2-ul-e pa e3-a-ba | |
| 5 | u4 ul nig2-ul-e mi2 zi du11-ga-a-ba | |
| 6 | esz3 kalam-ma-ka ninda szu2-a-ba | |
| 7 | {im}szu-rin-na kalam-ma-ka nig2-tab ak-a-ba | |
| 8 | an ki-ta ba-ta-bad-ra2-a-ba | |
| 9 | ki an-ta ba-ta-su3-ra2-a-ba# | |
| 10 | 1(u) mu nam-lu2-lu7 ba#-an#-gar-ra-a#-ba# | |
| 11 | u4 an-ne2 an# [...]-a#-ba# | |
| 12 | {d}en-lil2-le ki ba-an#?-[...] | |
| 13 | {d#}eresz-ki-gal-la kur-ra sag# rig7#?-[...] | |
| 14 | [ba]-u5#-a#-ba# [ba-u5]-a-ba# | |
| 15 | a-a kur#-[sze3 ba-u5]-a-ba | |
| 16 | {d}en-<ki>-ke4 kur-[sze3] ba-u5#-a-ba | |
| 17 | lugal-ra tur#-tur# ba-da-an-ri | |
| 18 | {d}en-ki-ra gal#-gal# ba-da-an-ri | |
| 19 | tur-tur-bi na4-szu-a-kam | |
| 20 | 1(u) gal-gal-bi na4 gi gu4-u4-da-kam | |
| 21 | ur2 ma2 tur-ra {d}en-ki-ka#?-kam | |
| 22 | nig2-bunx(SZEG10)-na du7 am3-mi-szu2#?-szu2#? | |
| 23 | lugal#-ra a ma2 sag!-ga2#-[ke4] | |
| 24 | [ur]-bar-ra-gin7 tesz2 mu-un-na#-gu7#-[...] | |
| 25 | [lugal]-ra# a ma2 egir#-ra-ke4 | |
| 26 | [...] sag# gesz im#-x-[...] | |
| 27 | [...]-am3# {gesz}ha#-lu-ub4 disz [...] | |
| 28 | [...]-x ku3-ga du3-[...] | |
| 29 | [...]-x a na8-na8-da-x | |
| 30 | [1(u) ...]-ba mu-ni-in-bur12 pa-pa x [...] mu#?-[...] | |
| reverse | ||
| 1 | [...] a im-ma-ab-[...] | |
| 2 | [...]-ta# ni2 te-te-[...] | |
| 3 | [...]-ta# ni2 te-te-[...] | |
| 4 | [...] unu{ki}-sze3 ba-ni-in-ku4#-[...] | |
| 5 | [... {d}]inanna-sze3 im-ma-ni-in-ku4-ku4#-[...] | |
| 10 | 1(u) me-na-am3 {gesz}gu-za gi-rin-ba i3-tusz-de3-en bi2-in-du11 | |
| 11 | me#-na#-am3 gesz-na2 gi-rin-ba i3-nu2-de3-en bi2-in-du11 | |
| 12 | gesz ba-gur4 kusz-bi nu-mu-un-da-dar | |
| 13 | ur2-bi-a musz tu6 nu-zu-a-e gud3 im-ma-ni-ib2#-us2 | |
| 14 | pa-bi-a muszen {d}anzu2{muszen}-de3 amar im-ma-ni-ib2#?-gar | |
| 15 | szab-bi ki-sikil-lil2-la2-ke4 e2 im-ma-ni#-[...] | |
| 16 | ki-sikil# [zu2] bir9#-bir9 sza3 hul2-[...] | |
| 17 | ku3 {d}inanna-ke4 er2 e-ne ba-x-[...] | |
| 18 | u4 zal#-le-de3#? an-ur2# zalag#-[...] | |
| 19 | buru5 u4 zal-le szeg10 gi4-gi4#-de3#? | |
| 20 | 1(u) {d}utu agrun-ta e3-a#-ni# | |
| 21 | nin9-a-ni ur-sag {d}utu-ur2 | |
| 22 | ku3 {d}inanna-ke4 gu3 mu-un-na-de2-e | |
| 23 | szesz-gu10 u4 ri-a na-ag2 ba-tar-ra-ba | |
| 24 | u4 he2-ma-al-la ka-na-ag2 ba-e-zal-la-ri | |
| 25 | u4 an-ne2 an ba-an-i-ir-re-a-ba | |
| 26 | {d}mu-ul-lil2-le ki ba-an-i-ir-re-a-ba | |
| 27 | {d}ga-sza-an-ki-gal-la-sze3 kur-ra sag rig7-bi-sze3 im-ma#-ab-rig7-ga-a-ba | |
| 28 | [ba]-u5#-a-ba ba-u5-a-ba | |
| 29 | [... kur]-sze3#? ba-u5-a-ba | |
| 30 | [1(u) {d}]am#-an-ki kur-sze3 ba-u5-a-ba | |
| 31 | u3#-mu-un-ra tur-tur ba-da-an-ri | |
| 32 | dam-an-ki-ra gal-gal ba-da-an-ri | |
| 33 | tur-tur-bi na4-szu-x-kam | |
| left | ||
| 1 | iti {d}NE#-NE-gar u4 2(u) 6(disz)-kam# | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.